The Disney cartoon Pigs is Pigs, directed by Jack Kinney, is released. Narrated by

Gary Owens, the short is a verse adaptation of a turn-of-the-century short story of the same name by Ellis

Parker Butler. The presence of a couple of guinea pigs at the Westcote railroad station creates countless

offspring as well as a load of paperwork for by-the-book agent Flannery! The short features the sounds of the

Mellomen - a vocal group which includes Thurl Ravenscroft. (It will be nominated for an Academy Award.)

1961:

The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Wonders of the Water World,"

narrated by Winston Hibler.

1993:

CBS-TV airs the 2nd part of the Disney special "The Best of Disney Music: A Legacy in Song."

1998:

The new Disneyland Tomorrowland is unveiled

after being given an extreme facelift. Various dedications will take place over

the next 2 days. Among the special guests are legendary astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Wally Schirra.

1999:

Disney Presents: Bill Nye the Science Guy wins a

Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series.

2001:

In Hawaii, Disney turns the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis into a party ship and outdoor movie theater for the premiere of its summer blockbuster, Pearl Harbor. Movie stars mingle with survivors and top military officers as some 2,000 guests gather on the flight deck of one of America's biggest ships for the screening.

2005:

Actor, director & writer Howard Morris, the original voice of Gopher in Disney's

Winnie the Pooh features, passes away in Los Angeles, California. Since the early

60s, he had been a main staple of the Hanna-Barbera Productions vocal team, offering hundreds of voices

for The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. (As a director he was responsible for the classic black-and-white pilot of TV's Get Smart as well as episodes of Hogan's Heroes and The Andy Griffith Show - in which he was also known for his comedic role of Ernest T. Bass.)

Clause(and its sequels)- is born in Wilmington, Delaware. (Reinhold has appeared in more than 75 films including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Ruthless People, Beverly Hills Cop, and Swing Vote.)

Walt Disney first leased the 708-acre

Golden Oak Ranch (just north of their

Burbank studio) in the late 1950s as a

film location for the "Spin and Marty"

segments of the Mickey Mouse Club.

In 1959, Disney purchased Golden Oak

Ranch, and over the years acquired

additional land which brought the

total to just under 900 acres!

2008:

During the season finale of American Idol, Jordin Sparks, last year’s winner, announces that The American Idol Experience, a theme-park version of the show, will open at Disney Hollywood Studios in January 2009. David Cook, who is voted this season's American Idol, shouts "I'm going to Disney World!" during the celebration following the live announcement. It is a rare off-field exception for those famous promotional words, which have almost always been uttered by sports figures. (The attraction will officially open February 14, 2009.)

Disney’s VirtualMagicKingdom.com shuts down at 10 p.m. The free social gaming site, also known as VMK, let players choose and style avatars, chat with other players and play games - all in a virtual theme park environment.

1914:

John Hubley, an Academy Award-winning animator and animation director, is

born in Marinette, Wisconsin. In 1935, he got a job as a background and layout artist at

Disney (at the age of 22) and worked on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He later became an art director

and designed layouts for Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, and "The Rite of Spring" segment for Fantasia. He left

Disney in 1941 (during the strike) and shortly thereafter become a founder of UPA (United Productions of

America) - where he designed Mr. Magoo!

1940:

Disney's Pinocchio is generally released in the U.K.

2007:

Actress Scarlett Strallen returns to the title role of the West End production of

Mary Poppins. She had first joined the London show at the end of 2005 to

replace original cast member Laura Michelle Kelly.

(In 2008 Strallen will play 'Mary' on Broadway.)

MAY 21

2009:

ASIFA-Hollywood celebrates the 20th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation’s The

Little Mermaid, with an evening of lively discussion with some of the animators and

There will be 4 consecutive weekends in all: May 21-23, May 28-30, June 4-6, and June 11-13.

1992:

Actor Hutchings Royal "Hutch" Dano, known for his role as Zeke Valconi on the

Disney sitcom Zeke & Luther, is born in Santa Monica, California. Also appearing on The

Suite Life on Deck, Dano is the grandson of Royal Dano (the original voice of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln).

2004:

Today is the start of the second of five consecutive Star Wars Weekends at Disney-

MGM Studios. Celebrity guests for the next 3 days include Peter Mayhew (best to known to fans as the towering and ever-loyal Wookiee, Chewbacca) and Jerome Blake (who played a variety of roles in Episode I, from the slimy Neimoidian schemer Rune Haako, to Mas Amedda, the booming voice of order in the Galactic Senate).

As part of the massive grand opening of the new American Idol Experience attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios on February 12, 2009, American Idol winners David Cook and Carrie Underwood sang a duet for the media inside the new attraction's theater. They performed Fleetwood Mac's

"Go Your Own Way." Cook is no stranger to the Florida resort, in December 2008 he took part in the filming of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade and in August 2009 vacationed with family at WDW.